Every parliamentary written question tabled by Adam Jogee this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 1,061–1,080 of 1,102 · this parliament
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his counterpart in Lesotho since his appointment.
The UK values its relationship with the Kingdom of Lesotho. The UK-Lesotho partnership is strong, focused on promoting Commonwealth values, partnering to deliver economic growth, and building a more climate resilient world. The Foreign Secretary looks forward to working with Foreign Minister Mpotjoane to enhance and develop our shared partnership.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his Zambian counterpart since his appointment.
Zambia is an important strategic partner with whom we engage regularly at Ministerial level on a broad range of bilateral, regional and multilateral issues. On 9th August 2024, Lord Collins of Highbury, had an introductory call with HE Mulambo Haimbe - the Zambian Foreign Minister. They discussed economic growth opportunities through the UK-Zambia Green Growth Compact, attracting private sector investment and climate resilience, including UK support for vulnerable communities amidst Zambia's severe drought.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with this Irish counterpart.
The Foreign Secretary spoke to the Tánaiste Micheál Martin on 5 July when he set out how the government was looking forward to resetting the bilateral relationship with Ireland. He looks forward to visiting Dublin in the near future, as do I, which I made clear to my Irish counterpart - Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill - when we spoke on 02 September. The Prime Minister hosted the Taoiseach at Chequers in July where they agreed to a UK-Ireland Summit in early 2025; they met again in Dublin on 7 September to agree priorities for the Summit. Ireland is the UK's nearest neighbour and sixth largest trading partner, and he is committed to ensuring UK/Ireland relations continue to go from strength to strength.
What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the police response to violence against women and girls in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) Staffordshire.
The scale of violence against women and girls in our country is intolerable and this government will treat it as the national emergency that it is. The police are a crucial partner to deliver our ambition to halve VAWG in the next decade. We must drastically improve the police and wider criminal justice response, in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire and across the country.We expect to see sustained work across policing to drive up standards and to ensure there is always a swift and specialist response to these appalling crimes. We know that these crimes are underreported, and we will take action to ensure victims coming forward get the response they deserve. The most recent statistics show that in the year ending March 2024:In Newcastle under Lyme, police recorded:452 stalking offences, up 9% from 413 in 2022/23847 harassment offences, up 9% from 778 in 2022/23396 sexual offences, down 8% from 431 in 2022/23.Staffordshire Police recorded:4,362 stalking offences, up 6% from 4,113 in 2022/238,623 harassment offences, up 36% from 6,344 in 2022/233392 sexual offences, down 12% from 3836 in 2022/23. In the year ending March 2023 there were 23,697 domestic-abuse related crimes recorded by the police in Staffordshire, a 33% increase from the year ending March 2022 (17,870). Data on DA flagged offences are not published for Newcastle-under-Lyme specifically.
Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of air pollution on the (a) natural environment in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) economy in North Staffordshire.
Air pollution has a significant impact on our economy every year by reducing labour productivity and growth. No specific assessment of air pollution and its impact on the natural environment in Newcastle-under-Lyme has been made recently nor the impact on the economy in North Staffordshire. However, a UK-wide risk assessment of the environmental impacts of the pollutants, ammonia, oxides of nitrogen and sulphur dioxide is made annually. The results are summarised in the Air Pollution Trends Report (see: https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/assets/documents/reports/cat09/2401111009_Air_Pollution_Trends_Report_2023.pdf). Specific results for UK designated habitats are viewable on the Air Pollution Information System website (see: https://www.apis.ac.uk/app).
Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of chemical regulations.
The Government is committed to protecting human health and the environment. We are currently considering the best approach to chemicals regulation in the UK.
What steps she plans to take to help tackle child poverty in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.
Tackling child poverty is a priority for the Government and a central part of delivering the Government’s Mission to create and spread opportunity for every child and young person in our country. We promised concrete actions in our manifesto to support children and families. Our initial steps to tackle poverty include free breakfast clubs in every primary school setting every child up at the start of the day ready to learn, expanding childcare to deliver work choices for parents and life chances for children, stronger protection for families who rent privately, and action to tackle high energy bills and slash fuel poverty. We are also developing an ambitious, new child poverty strategy and have set up a Ministerial Taskforce, jointly led by the Work & Pensions Secretary and the Education Secretary, to drive cross-government action on this work.
How many people are in work and claiming Universal Credit in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.
Official statistics for the number of people on Universal Credit are published each month on Stat-Xplore, with breakdowns available by Westminster Parliamentary Constituency. The latest statistics are to June 2024, with a breakdown by employment indicator available to May 2024. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
If she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the number of people that are in work and claiming Universal Credit in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.
Under my political leadership the DWP will shift from being a department for welfare to being a department for work. We will create a new jobs and careers service, bringing together Jobcentre Plus and the National Careers Service.The service will be focused on helping people get into work and get on at work, not only on monitoring and managing benefit claims. For our employment support system, the outcomes that will matter are higher engagement, higher employment, and higher earnings.
Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish all correspondence between the Environment Agency and his Department on the Walleys Quarry Landfill site in each of the last five years.
The Hon Member has requested a significant amount of information. Some of this correspondence may be subject to the conventions regarding access to papers of a previous Administration. Publishing some items of this correspondence could also risk prejudicing ongoing regulatory or criminal investigations in relation to the site. To fully review all of this correspondence would incur disproportionate cost. With this in mind I would like to offer a meeting with the Hon Member to discuss the issues at the site and actions underway.
Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish all correspondence between his Department and Staffordshire County Council on the Walleys Quarry Landfill site in each of the last five years.
The Hon Member has requested a significant amount of information. Some of this correspondence may be subject to the conventions regarding access to papers of a previous Administration. Publishing some items of this correspondence could also risk prejudicing ongoing regulatory or criminal investigations in relation to the site. To fully review all of this correspondence would incur disproportionate cost. With this in mind I would like to offer a meeting with the Hon Member to discuss the issues at the site and actions underway.
Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish all correspondence between his Department and Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council on the Walleys Quarry Landfill site in each of the last five years.
The Hon Member has requested a significant amount of information. Some of this correspondence may be subject to the conventions regarding access to papers of a previous Administration. Publishing some items of this correspondence could also risk prejudicing ongoing regulatory or criminal investigations in relation to the site. To fully review all of this correspondence would incur disproportionate cost. With this in mind I would like to offer a meeting with the Hon Member to discuss the issues at the site and actions underway.
What steps he plans to take to help improve access to NHS dentistry in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.
The Government plans to tackle the challenges patients face when trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.From 1 April 2023, the responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards across England.NHS dentists are required to keep their NHS.UK profiles up to date so that patients can find a dentist more easily. This includes information on whether they are accepting new patients. In circumstances where patients are unable to access an urgent dental appointment directly through an NHS dental practice, they should contact NHS 111.
If she will hold discussions with Staffordshire County Council on the condition of road surfaces in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency; and if she will visit Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency to assess the condition of road surfaces.
I welcome conversations with local authorities, including Staffordshire County Council, to better understand the challenges that they face with regards to maintenance of the local highway network. I look forward to receiving an invite and further details in due course.
What steps she is taking to support (a) children with SEND and (b) their parents, families and carers in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) reinspected Staffordshire SEND services on their eight areas of significant weakness in February 2022. The inspectors assessed each area of weakness and concluded that sufficient progress had been made to address six. Staffordshire produced an Accelerated Progress Plan (APP) to address the remaining two areas of significant weakness. The APP is being monitored on a 6-monthly basis and the next review is due to take place in November 2024.The department is committed to supporting and monitoring progress of the identified areas for improvement and have put in place regular monitoring and challenge meetings with SEND advisors from the department and NHS England.
What assessment she has made of the impact of the decision by the previous Conservative government to remove the £20 uplift to Universal Credit on poverty in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.
The £20 uplift in Universal Credit was removed in October 2021. Statistics on the number of Children living in absolute and relative poverty per constituency before housing costs are published annually in the “Children in low income families: local area statistics” publication. They can be found in tabs “6_Absolute_ParlC” and “5_Relative_ParlC” at Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The latest statistics published on 21 March 2024 cover the years 2014/15 to 2022/23. These statistics show the impact of all policies, economic, societal and behavioural changes on child poverty levels in constituencies.
What steps she plans to take to help tackle (a) anti-social behaviour and (b) drug use in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.
Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission to take back our streets.We will put thousands of neighbourhood police and community support officers into local communities so that residents have a named officer they can turn to when things go wrong.We will crack down on those causing havoc on our high streets by introducing tougher powers via a Crime and Policing Bill, including a new Respect Order to tackle repeat offending.We know that drugs drive crime and cause harm to individuals and society. We will take action as part of our Safer Streets Mission to drive down crime and anti-social behaviour across the country, drawing on evidence for what works in identifying drug users and intervening effectively to change patterns of behaviour including, where appropriate, treatment and recovery services for those dependent on drugs. We will also give detailed consideration to the findings of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs’ forthcoming review of synthetic cathinones, sometimes referred to as ‘monkey dust’, which are a significant cause of anti-social behaviour and drug harms.
What steps she plans to take to help support women affected by the rise in the State Pension age in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) Staffordshire.
DWP offers employment support for eligible customers of all ages, including those below State Pension age, through the network of Jobcentres across the UK, and through contracted employment programmes.A dedicated offer for older workers seeks to provide tailored support for those affected by low confidence, menopause, health and disability or caring pressures, and out of date skills or qualifications. This includes an online midlife review tool that supports people to assess their health, wealth and skills.The government has set out ambitious plans to improve employment support by bringing together jobcentres and the national careers service.
If he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the process to secure an autism diagnosis for children living in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism assessment services, in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to deliver improved outcomes in all-age autism assessment pathways. This guidance will help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service.
Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the World Health Organisation guidelines entitled WHO global air quality guidelines: particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide, published on 22 September 2021, whether he plans to adopt the recommendations set out in those guidelines for (a) particulate matter, PM2.5 and PM10, (b) ozone, (c) nitrogen dioxide, (d) sulphur dioxide and (e) carbon monoxide.
The Government is committed to meeting current legal targets for air quality, including the targets recently set under the Environment Act 2021, and will review the policy measures needed to achieve them. We will deliver a comprehensive and ambitious Clean Air Strategy including a series of interventions to reduce emissions so that everyone’s exposure to air pollution is reduced.